february 05, 2014

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INSIDE:2. Ryan Creary 3. Highmark Lounge4. Rogers Pass 411 6. 100 Years of Winter Recreation

Former Canadian Olympian Mike Robertson (boardercross, 2010) gets a turn in at Sol Mountain Lodge in 2013. See page two for a mini-feature on photog-rapher Ryan Creary, an established mountain sports photo pro who now calls Revelstoke home. Photo by Ryan Creary

2 | www.revelstoketimesreview.com

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After years of visits and two winters here, mountain sports and lifestyle photographer Ryan Creary is now

a Revelstokian, and plans to stay. Originally from small-town New Brunswick, the call of

the mountains led him to an outdoor recreation degree, then 10 years in Canmore where he developed his photography career.

He does it all and captures it all in the backcountry – snow, climbing, kayak, biking, run-ning, yoga and general lifestyle photography.

His resume includes credits, features and partnerships with a very wide sampling of heavy-hitting editorial and commercial clients in the mountain lifestyles field. Alpinist, Bike, Climbing, Daily Ski & Snowboard, Explore ... you could list his clients using the alphabet, almost all top-shelf.

Schooled in film – before instant digital feedback – Creary shoots only in natural light, using colour and contrast to recreate the moment in images. An explorer, he uses his back-country experiences to build ideas for future captures.

A snowboarder first, Creary has developed a passion for the full quiver of mountain sports activities in a quest to keep the passion alive.

“What really draws me to all of these activities and places are the real small, beautiful details and the colours of things – whether it’s biking through wildflowers up on Frisbee, it’s just those perfect outdoor moments that are rare, and they’re fleeting. But when you experience them it’s this moment – it couldn’t be any better than that,” Creary said. “That’s part of the passion I have for the outdoors, just being out there and being out there and expe-riencing these magic moments as you’re trying to capture them.”

Creary plans to make Revelstoke a permanent home. Although he often travels on assignment, there’s no doubt his presence will mean great exposure for Revelstoke in the years to come.

For more, check out ryancreary.com

AAron [email protected]

Arts

Stoking the passionPhotographer Ryan Creary sets Revelstoke roots

All photos this page by Ryan creary

www.revelstoketimesreview.com | 3

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Highmark Lounge goes bigRevelstoke’s newest licensed res-

taurant is the Highmark Lounge, which opened its doors in late Novem-ber in the location of the former Great White North restaurant, just west of town on the Trans-Canada.

Owner Sue Walton has lots of Rev-elstoke connections, but spent the past nearly three decades in Lake Louise, where she was the general manager at the famous Station fine dining restau-rant.

Walton got help establishing in Rev-elstoke from old snowboarding friends on the Trapper pro team, who helped her clean and renovate the restaurant, which had sat closed for a few months.

The Highmark Lounge features western classics in huge portions, sourcing its ingredients from B.C. and Alberta, (including a B.C. wine list.) The feature Mt. Begbie Brewing Co., Cariboos and others on tap.

“When you come you have to be hungry,” Walton says. “I love to feed people – that’s what I do.”

We tried the brined BBQ Half Chicken ($26) and the Mountain Man Burger ($17) and huge portions are right!

The Highmark Lounge mains include elk and bison burgers, and braised pork and beef ribs. Walton recommends their starter Grilled Caesar Salad, which

is two Romaine hearts split down the middle, grilled and topped with home-made aioli, and parmesan crisps.

Revelstoke snowboarder Al Clark earned a spot on the menu (and his Trap-per board on the wall). His Al-A-Penos are roasted fresh jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese, buffalo mozzarella and wrapped in double-smoked bacon.

Walton, who is enjoying the switch from wearing a tie to wearing jeans to work, explained herself and her staff are dedicated and committed to the res-taurant. (In fact, three colleagues from Lake Louise have followed her here.)

“My food is really, really good,” Walton said. “I am really fussy about it.”

Management changes and the shut-down at the former restaurant hurt busi-ness at the slightly off-the-beaten track location.

Walton’s re-building plan is focused on bringing back Revelstoke custom-ers.

She said it’ll take “time and patience and proving myself daily.”

She’s circulating a 10% discount card, and is offering a $16 roast beef and Yorkshire pudding buffet on Sun-days.

The Highmark Lounge (near the Smokey Bear statue on the Trans-Can-ada Highway) is a great bet if you’re hungry, looking for a licensed restau-rant and want to take in a game.

AAron [email protected]

Above: Brined half chicken with grilled Caeser Salad and a Mountain Man Burger. Below: Owner Sue Wal-ton and bartender Jay DiNardo at the newly opened Highmark Lounge.

Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Times Review


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It was early afternoon in the Loop Brook area of Glacier National Park but the sun was low in the sky, hiding behind Mount Bonney, and the

mountains to the north and east basked in the alpen-glow. I sat enjoying my lunch on a bench beneath a wide open bowl that � owed from the top of the ridge between Ross Peak and Mount Green.

I let my legs relax as the rest our group of eight caught up, cresting the roll at the end of a steep skin track through the trees. Up ahead, a restless Doug-las Sproule had already taken off and was setting a skin track up the nameless bowl. He zig-zagged uphill and then turned back down, enjoying a few turns with his skins on. He did this a second time and skied back down to the group. Back on my feet, I passed him as he descended back to the group to make sure everyone was going to climb the � nal few hundred metres to our destination. It was de� nitely an exposed slope but conditions were stable.

I reached the end of his skin track and broke trail for a bit. Sproule quickly caught up, climbing lazily behind me. I stopped to catch my breath and let him pass me and he scampered up ahead, setting a track that got steeper and steeper until he popped off his skis and bootpacked the � nal hundred or so feet to the top of the ridge.

I met Sproule about a year earlier when I � rst heard about his Rogers Pass 411 guidebook. He was in his living room at home, where his work station and his large electronic drum kit sat.

The 411 on Rogers PassDouglas Sproule is attempting to ski every avalanche path in Glacier National. Along the way, he’s taken a break to create the guide book to Rogers Pass – a multi-media product that is every adventurer’s dream.

by Alex Cooper

Douglas Sproule skins up through the meadows in the Loop Brook area of Glacier National Park.Alex Cooper/Revelstoke Times Review

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He showed me what he’d been work-ing on – an elaborate guidebook detailing pretty much every possible line in Glacier National Park. This wasn’t just easy-to-access stuff; it included lines that required serious mountaineering skills. There were routes in the remote backcountry of the park that required either a snowmobile or heli-drop on the park’s boundaries to reach, or several days of touring.

Many of them Sproule had skied, others were simply in his imagination. He drew them on high-res photos and in Google Earth KML files.

Uptracks, bootpacks and bushwhacks – the subtitle of his book – were all marked, as well as hundreds of ways down.

So far, he’s published Rogers Pass North – 345-page PDF book featuring every line north of the Trans-Canada Highway. The guidebook is very detailed, not just in the mapping, but also in terms of the infor-mation it contains about the winter per-mit system, safe travel practices, avalanche awareness and more. The meat of the book, and the reason people will buy it, is for the detailed route information that is shown on high-res photos and described in text as well.

Also available is a guidebook, PDF map and Google Earth file for the Bugaboos to Rogers Pass Traverse.

Rogers Pass South will be released

in a different format. Instead of compil-ing everything into a PDF book, he will be releasing the photos, KML files and descriptions as a downloadable directory that can be browsed on your home com-puter or smart phone. You can look at the photos or view the routes in Google Earth and piece together your day that way.

All of this has taken Sproule several years to create during which he taught him-self everything from scratch and didn’t ski much. He also put together a KML file for the Mt. Macpherson trail network while he was at it.

An American who’s migrated to Can-ada, Sproule is the type of guy who goes on big trips and sets big objectives for himself. He’s entered 24-hour bike races, skied 130 kilometres from Rogers Pass to the Bugaboos in 80 hours (a record), skied from Golden to Rogers Pass in 16 hours, made a first descent of the south face of Sir Sandford and more.

He’s attempting to ski every avalanche path facing the Trans-Canada Highway in Glacier National Park. There’s 133 of them and he’s about half-way there. Many of them require technical mountaineer-ing skills, and a few might not be skiable – he’s still piecing the project together.

Sproule turned 43 the day before our tour. He’s fit and moves fast through the mountains and I had a feeling that on our

day out, the pace was a little too slow for him. Fortunately, I wasn’t the slowest in our group of eight, so I didn’t feel like I was lagging too much.

I struggled up the last few switchbacks of the skin track and then took off my skis. A few huffs and puffs later, I reached the top of the ridge, just in time to catch the last rays of sun from the top. Two valleys over, the pyramid of Mount Sir Donald was glowing orange.

We took some photos and then began our descent in the shade of the mountains. We skied through the bowl – a thin wind crust giving way to soft, settled powder. We carved our turns freely through the wide open alpine to the top of the trees. There, Sproule was waiting. “Everyone went that way, want to go this way?” he asked.

We pushed through the trees into the slop on the other side. The snow here was softer – not quite powder, but fun and flowy and easy to ski through. Navigating trees and popping off pillows, we yo-yoed down the mountain into the valley below. One last traverse, and we skied the final few powder turns to Loop Brook and the exit track back to the parking lot.

The line was a first for me and, much to my amazement, a first for Sproule.

You can learn more about Sproule’s work and purchase his guidebooks at www.rogerspass411.ca.

Left: Douglas Sproule, with Rogers Pass in the background.; Right: Sproule skis through the alpine with the valley far below. Alex Cooper/Revelstoke Times Review


Fridays and Saturdays at 3:00pmReservations Recommended. Closed-toed shoes required.

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WINTER & SPRING HOURS7 Days a Week: 11am - 8pm106 West Victoria Road, Revelstoke

By Alex Cooper

In 2014, Mt. Revelstoke National Park turns 100 years old. The park was founded by the Canadian gov-ernment at the urging of the citizens of Revelstoke. To celebrate the park’s centennial, the Times Review will be publishing a monthly series of articles over the course of the year. Part two looks at the history of win-ter recreation in the park.

For the longest time, before Mount Mackenzie and Macpherson and Boulder and Frisby Ridge, Mount Revelstoke was Revelstoke’s winter play-

ground. With its slopes flowing right to the edge of town, it wasn’t long before locals started to have fun there. In the summer they hiked to the summit and in the winter, they played in the snow on the lower flanks just above the town – skiing, snowshoeing and tobag-ganing.

A recreational ski club was formed in the early 1890s and, along with snowshoers, they spent time slid-ing on Mount Revelstoke.

1914 was a landmark year for Mount Revelstoke. Not only was it the year the mountain was declared a national park, but it was also the year the Revelstoke Ski Club was formed and the first known ski ascent of the mountain was made by Rosa Haggen and Cecil Atkins. “There were some wonderfully good runs on the way down,” Haggen wrote.

In 1915, Revelstoke hosted its first ever winter car-nival, with a ski jumping competition just outside the park’s boundaries. The tournament put Revelstoke on the map. Thorlief Iversen, a visiting judge, praised the enthusiasm of the crowd and said Revelstoke could “become the hub and centre of winter sports for all of North America.”

In 1916, the ski club gained permission to hold the ski jumping events in the park. A famously steep and scary jump was built. Called the Big Hill, it was aptly nicknamed Suicide Hill. The 1931 competition, later dubbed the Great Fiasco, became notorious after visit-ing jumpers refused to leap off the Big Hill, considering it too dangerous. The competition was switched to the B jump, but Revelstoke’s Bob Lymburne, much to the delight of his spectators, soared off the A jump anyway.

World records were set on the jump – most notably by local jumper Nels Nelsen, who became an interna-tional celebrity for his jumping feats. In 1925 he set a world record by jumping 240 feet on the hill. The ski jump was later named after him.

The ski jump’s construction and Parks Canada’s sup-port for winter recreation on Mount Revelstoke made the park a centre for winter activity in Revelstoke. The ski jumping competition was the highlight of the win-ter, but people would also cross-country ski through the woods and, later, start skiing downhill on the mountain.

While jumping was the main draw, Nordic and alpine skiing gained in popularity. Nordic races were

A film crew visited Mount Revelstoke National Park in February 1941 to film local skiers for the promotional movie Beautiful British Columbia.

Marge Meier Collection/Revelstoke Museum & Archives

100 years of winter recreation of Mount Revelstoke National Park


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Thursday January 30

Monday february 3

Friday January 31

Tuesday february 4

wednesday february 5

Thursday february 6

friday february 7

Saturday february 1

Sunday february 2

Shred Kelly Big Eddy Pub 9-11pm Live Music

Comedy Show - Snowed In Roxy Theatre 7pm Performance

Rescue Dogs Spaghetti Dinner Rec Centre 4-8pm Event

Sled Drag Racing Glacier House 11am-5pm Registration 11am Event

Aerial Workshop for Adults (Max 12 ppl) School Atrium 6-8pm Workshop

Vidiots Showcase Village Idiot

Jam Night Benoits Live Music

Mt Begbie Brewery Tours 3-6pm

Anything Goes Art Auction 7pm - Entry $5 Art

Retro Boogie Skate Party Arena 7-9pm Event

Top Chick Contest The Last Drop 9pm Event

Stoke FM Pub Golf All pubs in town 19+ Event

3rd Annual Fondue Night Benoits 3-6pm Event

Dog Sled Rides 1-4pm Event

Open Mic The Last Drop Live Music

Alan Mallory Everest Presentation/Workshop 5-9pm - Cost $8 Presentation/Workshop

The Cabin Triple Threat Wednesday The Cabin - $3 Bowling/Hiballs/Draft Event

Wing Night Around Town

Frostbite Show - Michael Fraser Traverse 10pm Live Music

Burlesque Show - Voracious V Traverse 10pm Live Music

Teen Spirit Dance School RSS 7-10pm Event

Kids’ Drama Show RPAC 6pm Performance

Forever Foursome - Beatles Tribute Band RPAC 7:30pm - Tickets $20 Performance

Aeriosa Rehersal open to the public RSS Atrium 6:30-7:30pm Performance

The Cabin Ladies Night The Cabin - $4 martinis/house wine, $3 bowling Ladies Only Deal

Live Music - The Shoe The Last Drop Live Music

Jam Night Benoits Live Music

Live Music - No Island The Last Drop - no cover Live Music

Weekend in the Mountains PSI Rotary Students Weekend Art/Performance

Disco Funk Ice Skating DJ & violin M. Fraser Forum 7-9pm Event

Top Bloke Contest The Last Drop Event

Aeriosa Rehersal open to the public RSS Atrium 6:30-7:30pm Performance

Mt Begbie Brewery Tour Mt Begbie Brewery 3pm

Cresendo Cooking Class 5-7pm Workshop

Drop-In Curling 7-10pm Event

Live Music - Bluesmyth The Last Drop Live Music

Big Rave - Johnny Cash Tribute The Last Drop - Tickets $10 Live Music

Aeriosa Dance CompanyPhoto/Video talkback with JULIA TAFFE

7:30pm - Tickets $15 Performance

The Bitterweed Draw Revelation Lodge 10pm-1am Performance

Waiters Race Campbell Ave (by Powder Springs car park) 3pm Event

Bed Race Campbell Ave (by Powder Springs car park) 3pm Event

Carousel of Nations Rec Centre 4-7pm Event

Carousel of Nations Night Dance Rec Centre En Kharma 9pm Event

Grizzly Hockey Game

Pre-Novice (6yrs) Hockey Tournament RUNS SAT & SUN

Mixed Curling Bonspeil RUNS SAT & SUN

Start Standing SidewaysRiglet Park & Demo - for children 5 & under

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Aeriosa Youth Workshop (Max 12 ppl) 2-4pm Workshop

The Cabin Season PassholderPerks Happy Hour

The Cabin 2-4pm $2/game

4-6pm $3/game 6-10pm $3/gameEvent

Sled Show ShineLive music - Maritime Kitchen Party 3-6pm

RMR 2-5pm Event/Live Music

Dessert Theatre - A Very Silly Script MacGregors 8pm - $8, Kids Show by donation Theatre Performance

Live Music Benoits Live Music

Aeriosa Performance RPAC 7:30pm - $15 Response 8:30-9:30pm Performance

Rail Jam RMR 2-7pm Event

Trappers Board Demo RMR Demo

Live Music - Bluesmyth The Last Drop Live Music

saturday february 8

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sunday february 9

Monday february 10

Week Long Events

Ice Carver Outside Cabin 4-6pm Live Music

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DJ Showdown & Live Art Show The Cabin Art/Performance

Tournament of ChumpsLive Music - 45 Minutes 2-5pm

11am-3pm Event/Live Music

4th Annual Chili Cook Off Around Town 2-5pm Event





Best in Show Eddy Field (across from Benoits) 4-5pm Event

Starlight Snowshoe Nelson Historic Site 5pm Event

Al Lucus The Last Drop - no cover Live Music


Cordwood Curling Arena

Japanese RSS Wrap up Dinner Sushi Macgregors in Powder Springs Event

Family Swim $10/Family & enter to win FREE 1 month family aquatic pass - valued $130

Benoits Wine Passport Taste wines from around the world

Headquarters at Revelstoke Outdoor Centre Visit the patio by Rockford to fi nd out all info about Spirit Fest

Last Drop Beer Passport Drink beer from around the world, stamp your passport & get a T-shirt

Retail Passport 8th, 9th & 10th - Scratch and sale event save up to 25%

Spirit WallBring a coloured block of ice to the base of Turtle Creek and add spirit to the Spirit Wall

Half price snowshoe tours for the duration of Spirit Fest. Offered by Revelstoke Snowshoe Company. Tours include a gondola ride and take place in the sub-alpine forests at RMR. Great for all ages and fi tness levels.

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sunday february 9

Monday february 10

Week Long Events

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Tournament of ChumpsLive Music - 45 Minutes 2-5pm

11am-3pm Event/Live Music

4th Annual Chili Cook Off Around Town 2-5pm Event





Best in Show Eddy Field (across from Benoits) 4-5pm Event

Starlight Snowshoe Nelson Historic Site 5pm Event

Al Lucus The Last Drop - no cover Live Music


Cordwood Curling Arena

Japanese RSS Wrap up Dinner Sushi Macgregors in Powder Springs Event

Family Swim $10/Family & enter to win FREE 1 month family aquatic pass - valued $130

Benoits Wine Passport Taste wines from around the world

Headquarters at Revelstoke Outdoor Centre Visit the patio by Rockford to fi nd out all info about Spirit Fest

Last Drop Beer Passport Drink beer from around the world, stamp your passport & get a T-shirt

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Spirit WallBring a coloured block of ice to the base of Turtle Creek and add spirit to the Spirit Wall

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held on the lower slopes of the mountain and locals would ski to the summit area to enjoy the deep snow and wide open meadows there. Starting in 1936, the ski club would host regular ski runs on Mount Revel-stoke, with the leader choosing a route at random.

In 1938, Revelstoke Ski Club president Craig Ruth-erford approached Parks Canada about building a lodge at the summit. He purchased the old Three Val-ley Hotel, dismantled it and re-assembled it at the sum-mit. Heather Lodge was a popular destination until it was taken down in 1967.

A downhill run that was the site of races was built on Mount Revelstoke in 1939 and it would become a popular spot for locals, who would ski to the top and then zip down the steep slope.

In 1948, a new run was opened at the bottom of Mount Revelstoke just across the railway tracks from the hospital. The Hickory Run has a rope tow and was lit up at night; it became the spot where locals would go ski. A longer run started higher up on the mountain. In 1961, when the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway bi-sected the hickory run, a 1,600-foot Poma lift was built near the Big Hill. Mount Revelstoke was the spot where locals skied and raced until 1969, when downhill skiing was consolidated on Mount Macken-zie.

Ski jumping continued in the park until the 1970s. The Tournament of Champions was started in 1949, the first international competition on the Big Hill since 1933. It remained a major international jumping event – attracting thousands of spectators from out of town and on TV – until the event slowly died off in the 1970s, jumping’s popularity having been eclipsed by downhill skiing.

Nordic skiing was the last sport to truly survive in

Mount Revelstoke National Park. Soren Sorensen, a Danish immigrant, was the driving force in the sport in the 1950s and ‘60s. He helped build the two- and five-kilometre trails that now bare his name and he coached young skiers. Several organized races were held on Mount Revelstoke. However, as the sport became more popular and skate-skiing developed, more space was required. The Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club moved its operations across the valley to Mount Macpherson.

Even then, Nordic skiing continued in the park until 2012, with Parks Canada grooming and track-setting along the Meadows in the Sky Parkway to the Mona-shee cabin eight kilometres up the road. In 1985, Parks started the Moonlight Ski, where skiers could look for-ward to hot chocolate and snacks at the cabin. The event was so popular it continued until 2013.

Sadly, Mount Revelstoke National Park is now deemed a three-season park and Parks Canada isn’t allowed to offer any winter activities in the park after budget cuts by the Federal government in 2012. The last moonlight ski was organized by dedicated volun-teers in 2013. This year it has been replaced by a star-light snowshoe on Sunday, Feb. 9.

The park is still open for people to explore (except for the Mount Klotz area, which is closed to protect mountain caribou) but Parks Canada is not allowed to fund any winter activities, a sad development after more than 100 years of winter fun inside Mount Revel-stoke National Park.

Special thanks to the Revelstoke Museum & Archives, whose book First Tracks – the History of Skiing in Revelstoke formed the basis for this article. It can be purchased at the museum and elsewhere in town.


THEBIGGESTEVENT

YEAROF THE

MARCH 10-15, 2014

VISIT REVELSTOKEMTN.COM/FWT

february 05, 2014

Documents

photographer ryan creary

revelstoke home

ryan creary2

revelstoke padrinospizzaria

mountain lifestyles

sol mountain lodge

big eddy road

passion alive